Soldier martyred in eastern Turkey

Soldier succumbs to injuries while another receives treatment in hospital after gunfight with PKK in Tunceli province

By Haydar Toprakci

TUNCELI, Turkey (AA) - One soldier was martyred and another wounded after a PKK terrorist attack in eastern Turkey, security sources said Thursday.

According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media, PKK terrorists opened fire on the soldiers in the Ovacik district of Tunceli province.

A gunfight erupted after the soldiers retaliated and initially wounded two soldiers. One soldier, who was airlifted to a university hospital in the neighboring Elazig province, succumbed to his injuries.

An air-backed operation was launched in the region after the attack.

Earlier on Thursday, two security forces, including a Turkish soldier and a police officer, were martyred in an operation against the terrorist PKK organization in the southeastern Mardin province.

The joint operation in the province’s Nusaybin district also left nine other security personnel injured, one of them in critical condition.

The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization also by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, nearly 500 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

*Anadolu Agency Correspondent Servet Gunerigok contributed to this story from Ankara.